Marion
County W. P. A. History
CHAPTER I
FORMATION
COUNTY SEAT
When the county of Marion was created in 1811
a landing place on Pearl River was selected as the
county seat. Because of the presence of a bluff
and a family by the href of Lott the place was for
a time called Lott's Bluff. The seat of justice
was never changed but the href was changed in 1821
from Lott's Bluff to Columbia in memory of the
South Carolina town, Columbia, which was near the
former home of the settlers. One of the first
settlers, John Lott, donated one acre of land to
the county to be used as a site for the permanent
seat of justice with the understanding that no
part of it should ever be used for commercial
sites or commercial purposes.
The town of Columbia was incorporated by a
special act of the legislature in 1818 and was the
fourth municipality to be chartered after
Mississippi was admitted as a state. The first
three towns incorporated were Monticello, Natchez,
and Liberty. The charters of the first two were
dated 1817. Liberty received her charter only nine
days before Columbia did. In the same year her
charter was granted, 1818, Columbia was surveyed
and divided into lots and a map of the town was
made by James Philips. The original map as made by
Philips is now on record in the Chancery Clerk's
office in Marion County.
By an act of February 7, 1821 Columbia was
selected as the temporary capitol of Mississippi
and the state legislature of December 1821 and of
June 1822 met there. Two governors of the state
were interested in legislature meetings at the
place; Governor Poindexter closed his term of
office and Governor Leake began his administration
there. This temporary arrangement of the capitol's
location was to last only until a new site and
buildings could be supplied for a permanent
capitol. The General Assembly or Legislature met
in a large two story wooden building about five
miles north of Columbia. It is said the building
was erected by one of the earlier settlers by the
href of Lewis, was later bought and owned by a Mr.
Stovall, and later owned by I. M. Fortenberry. The
original purpose of a house so large was for the
accommodation of guest who visited the community
as a health resort. A mineral spring in the
vicinity furnished water with a degree of healing
power. Parts of this old hotel remained standing
until a few years back.
Older citizens of Marion County think the
county has built as many as four different
courthouses if not more. It is believed that one
was erected just prior to the War Between the
States which was possibly the second one in the
county. The minutes of the board of supervisors
show that a contract was let for a wooden
structure in 1891 to cost 20,000. In 1905 the
present building, a $65,000 concrete structure was
erected. An interesting fact concerning the county
courthouse and the county records is that neither
has ever been destroyed by fire. It is said that
an attempt was made by Union soldiers who came
through the county during the War Between the
States to burn the building that was in use at
that time. The story goes that they started the
fire on the inside of one of the offices and
believing it would continue to burn closed the
door and went on their way. Fortunately the fire
died out and the building and records escaped
destruction.
Having no highways of trade except the river
Pearl, Columbia was more or less a stagnant town
until the railroad reached her limits in 1900. In
that year the first bank, the Columbia, was
organized with a capital stock of $18,000. The
railroad made the shipping of lumber possible and
sawmills immediately began to spring up in and
near Columbia. The increase in revenue was so
rapid until a second bank was organized in 1904
with a capital stock of $25,000. The population of
the town increased from 507 in 1900 to a
sufficient number in 1910 to be declared a city by
Governor E. F. Noel in that year. In 1908 a
sanitary sewer system and water works were
installed in the city; in 1922 a modern fire pump
was installed; in 1927 the postal delivery system
was begun and in the same year the White Way
lighting system was put in operation. The
population at this writing is estimated at 6,000.
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